The TOP50 saw 60% of new investments raised by IQM Quantum Computers, Lightyear, and SMART Photonics
Brussels, Paris, 14 Nov 2022
In the past 12 months, the TOP50 list of European deeptech companies backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) added €545 Million of new investments. The TOP50 raised to date €1.82Bln of which €190 Million was provided as blended finance by the EIC, demonstrating the EIC crowding-in other funding with a multiple of 9X on this portfolio.
As part of the EIC ScalingUp project, the TOP50 companies were nominated one year ago by a committee of specialist deep tech investors as having the best potential to grow to a €1Billion valuation. The project provides Growth Club services to 35 selected member companies on the list to co-develop strategy, visibility and relationships with investors, partners and talent with 30 expert mentors and a consortium with Tech Tour, bpifrance, BCG and DeepWave Ventures.
The EIC ScalingUp TOP50 investment data over the past 12 months shows further revealing trends:
60% of new investments of the TOP50 were raised by just 3 companies: IQM, Lightyear and SMART Photonics. IQM raised €168 Million in 2 rounds in the past 12 months suggesting that ambition and speed are rewarded
The number of individual shareholders grew by 38% to a total of 386 indicating the complexity of putting together the deep tech investment syndicates
Half of the 10 biggest investment rounds were led by government-backed funds showing the importance of long-term investment to deep tech scale-ups, and
The average amount raised to date by the digital companies accelerated to €49.6 Million, almost twice as high as health and 50% above sustainability indicating that digital deep tech strengthens its investor preference.
These trends mirror 7 main scaling challenges identified by the EIC ScalingUp project through interviews with the Growth Club companies and their investors (see also the recent BCG article):
With four Europe-specific challenges:
Secure significant financing and, in particular, a lead investor for the investment syndicates
Build and leverage a strong board of directors including independent non-executive directors
Develop a compelling business strategy and investment narrative
Navigate the complex institutional opportunities across the EU and Member States, and
With 3 broader challenges:
Partner smartly with large corporations
Attract the best talent, skills, and leadership
Build the ecosystems necessary for deep tech innovation
For further information, please contact:
· Jennifer Migan, bpifrance at jennifer.migan@ext.bpifrance.fr and M +33 6 81 84 31 56
· Iva Tchetinova, Tech Tour at itchetinova@techtour.com and M +359 2 419 82 96